Leviticus 17

CHAPTER 17THEME: One place of sacrifice; the offense of occult goat worship; the offering of sacrifice at the tabernacle; the obligation not to eat bloodLeviticus is an exciting book as it is unfolding and opening up great basic and bedrock truths for the Christian today. Though these things were given to the nation Israel in a literal way, and though the reason for doing these things has passed away, yet all of this contains great spiritual lessons for us today. It answers many questions and gives new insights for the understanding and appreciation of the New Testament. I rejoice that many are coming to a personal relationship with Christ through the study of Leviticus. Some people treat this chapter as an extension of the previous chapter. There is a sequence here, it is true, but the subject is different. Consideration is now given to the one place of sacrifice and the value of the blood. This chapter had direct application to the wilderness march and the period that Israel was camped about the tabernacle. It has to do with ethical rather than ceremonial considerations. Clean domestic animals for food were to be slain at the tabernacle. Only verses Lev_17:8 and Lev_17:9 in this chapter have to do specifically with the ceremonial offering of a sacrifice to God. After Israel was scattered throughout the land of Palestine, some of them lived a hundred or more miles from the tabernacle. It would not have been feasible or even possible for them to bring the animals they were to use for food and slay them at the tabernacle. In Deuteronomy God revised these instructions to them when they were ready to enter the land (Deu_12:15-16, Deu_12:20-25). Why did God give such instructions? Israel was fresh out of Egypt where they had been surrounded by idolatry. They had worshiped the idols of Egypt, and there was always the danger of lapsing back to idolatry. They had worshiped the nature gods of Egypt. In verse Lev_17:7 the word translated “devils” is actually seirim which means “hairy one” and refers to goats. The Egyptians worshiped Mendes, the goat god, and the Greeks worshiped the goat god as Panfamiliar to us from Greek literature and art depicted with tail, horns, and cloven feet. Medieval Christianity then identified this form as the devil. We get our word panic from this period of time when it described the terror that the Devil caused. From this we see that Israel was forbidden to kill any animal in any place but the tabernacle in order to prevent them from making it an offering to Pan, the goat god. Then, we learn that under no circumstance was the blood to be eaten. The reason is given specifically: it represents the life. There is a twofold reason behind this. (1) Life is sacredeven animals are not to be slain needlessly. (2) Blood speaks of the sacrifice of Christ. It was the means of expiation, the symbol of reconciliation, and the type of the one great vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. Life is sacred and must be protected, but Christ must give His life so that the sinner can have life. Blood and life are synonymous.

Man was never to eat blood. But he is to “drink the blood of Christ,” which means to appropriate by faith in the shed blood of Christ the life of Christ which He gave up so that we might live. Let us love, praise, and talk about the blood. Too often, even in our churches, there is a soft-pedal placed on the topic of sin. My friend, it always follows that when there is a hesitation to mention sin, there is an equal playing down of the precious blood of Christ. A famous preacher who came to Washington years ago was approached by a dowager who said, “Doctor, I do hope that you will not talk too much about the blood, as our former preacher did.” His answer was enlightening, “Madam, I will not say too much about the blood.” She interrupted, “I am so glad to hear that!” Then he added, “It is impossible to say too much about the blood!”

Leviticus 17:1

THE ONE PLACE OF SACRIFICEThese instructions were not for Moses and Aaron alone, but they were also for the sons of Aaron and for the entire nation of Israel. It is obvious that God is reaching now into the personal and private lives of the people. He not only made a difference between the clean and the unclean animals in chapter 11, but now He puts down the regulations by which they were to eat the clean animals. The lives of His people are to be different from the heathen round about them. They are told that again in the next chapter, as we shall see (Lev_18:3).

Leviticus 17:3

This is another of those strange laws and it does not concern the ceremonial offering of sacrifices. When you look at it carefully, you will note that these animals were for food for God’s people. In other words, God is demanding that they bring Him to the dinner table! By this token, the heathen gods were shut out. Why was God so strict about this? If they were going to have a lamb for dinner, they had to bring it to the door of the tabernacle to slay it. Maybe some of them didn’t want their neighbors to know they were having company. Maybe some of them forgot to invite their mother-in-law for dinner. All this made no difference. They must slay the animal at the tabernacle. This was done because of their background. You see, among the heathen the meat was offered to an idol before it was eaten. God was putting up a roadblock to hinder His people from taking the long road to idolatry, spiritual darkness, and judgment. When they lived down in Egypt, even though they were in slavery, they were idolaters just like the Egyptians. God did not redeem them because they were superior. God redeemed them because He had heard their cry and because He had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When God makes a covenant, He keeps it. How do I know they were idolaters in Egypt? Because Scripture says they were. “In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt” (Eze_20:6-8). God is trying to break them from that sordid background in the land of Egypt. They had worshiped animals, and the shedding of blood and the offering of the meat were used in idolatry. One needs to understand this background to get the significance of Paul’s injunctions to the Corinthians in 1Co_8:1-13 and 1Co_10:1-33. The Corinthians were idolatrous and they brought their animal and offered it to their idols. They left their animal there; the meat was taken into the temple and sold in the meat market there. The best filet mignon of that day would have been bought at the heathen temple; it was the local supermarket. By the time of the New Testament, the godly Israelite had been so schooled that he refused to buy this meat that had been offered to idols. The converted Gentiles didn’t have any qualms about eating the meat that had been offered to idols, realizing that the idol was nothing.

But the Jewish Christian didn’t like to eat with the gentile Christian because of this difference over meat offered to idols. This chapter in Leviticus, you see, gives the background for the passage to the Corinthians. It is interesting to note that when the great Council of Jerusalem handed down the decision, James spoke for the group and said, “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood” (Act_15:19-20). God was teaching the gentile believers that life is sacred. May I mention here that the slaughter of animals for food is still associated with heathen worship among the Hindus and in Persia. Actually, the children of Israel had very little meat to eat in the wilderness. I think the incident concerning the quail indicated that. They complained because they didn’t have any meat to eat and cried, “…Who shall give us flesh to eat?” (Num_11:4). This was true of all nations of antiquity, and even today nations in the East are short on meat. Some are actually vegetarian in their diets. A clean animal for food for the table was to be killed at the door of the tabernacle. The blood would be poured out there. The blood was placed upon the altar, and the fat was offered as a sweet savour. The sacrifice was a peace offering. The remainder of the animal was returned to the owner, and he could prepare it for his table. You can see why the Jewish believers resented the Gentiles eating meat bought at a heathen temple.

Leviticus 17:7

THE OFFENSE OF OCCULT GOAT WORSHIPI have already mentioned that the word devils in this verse is literally “hairy ones,” or goats. The same word is used in 2Ch_11:15: “And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils [literally, goats], and for the calves which he had made.” That is how Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, made Israel to sin. This refers to nature worship, degrading and licentious, associated with the god Pan. God is saying to His people, “Don’t you do that! You bring that animal to the door of the tabernacle.” This is why there was the severe penalty as stated in the fourth verse. The details had to be changed when they entered into the land, but the principle that is taught here is eternal. This is very, very important for us to see today. They lived under the danger of returning to idolatry and to gross immorality, and right now we are experiencing a return to this matter of nature worship. My friend, all this business today of going back to primitive living is a return to the same sort of thing. God wanted to protect them and wants to protect us from idolatry and immorality.

Leviticus 17:8

THE OFFERING OF SACRIFICE AT THE TABERNACLEGod is specific about bringing an animal for their own food or bringing it for an offering. God did not let them present an animal as an offering and then take it home to eat. Now, in these two verses, He is talking about bringing an animal for a burnt offering. When the animal was brought as an offering, they had to make the offering according to the law of the burnt offering. There was only one place for sacrifice. The Lord repeated this again and again in order to deter Israel from idolatry. It was applicable to the strangers and foreigners who had established residence in Israel. There was always the danger of the influence from the presence of the heathen in their midst. The tendency was to resort to the ways of the heathen rather than to win them over to the Lord. We are told today, “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (1Co_10:14). And again, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? …Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Co_6:14-17). This is a great principle which is carried over to the church. There is a danger of association with the unbeliever in religion, politics, marriage, business, or social life. God has placed a warning about this in His Word.

Leviticus 17:10

THE OBLIGATION NOT TO EAT BLOODI consider verse Lev_17:11 one of the key verses of this book. The life is in the blood. This is restated in verse Lev_17:14. This is the basis of all sacrifice.

Leviticus 17:12

Jesus Christ said something very interesting. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (Joh_6:54-56). Because the life of the flesh is in the blood, Jesus is saying that we are to accept His shed blood for our sins by faith and then we receive life. Jesus shed His blood and gave His life. The life is in the blood. This is a great, eternal truth. This explains why Abel’s sacrifice was more excellent than Cain’s. It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. The blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away sin. There is nothing offensive about the blood; the offense is in our sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.